Search - John [1] Barry, John Barry :: King Kong [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

Beautiful score for an underrated film

R. Gorey | New York | 12/09/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"How odd that no one else has reviewed this CD before, since it's so lovely to listen to. Fans of Barry's work may already be familiar with his music for "Out of Africa", the James Bond films, and "Dances With Wolves". Perhaps his score for Dino's "Kong" is ripe for rediscovery. If only the rest of the movie had been this lush, romantic, and grand! Max Steiner's score for the original "Kong" is of course a milestone, but Barry's approach to this fairy tale story is more melancholy, more wildly romantic, and somehow just as resonant. His love theme for Jessica Lange's debut character is elegant and irresistable, and his scoring of the darker scenes lends an air of menace and sweep to a film that really needed the boost. To those put off by the idea of "Kong" music, I'd say give this a chance: the feeling you got from other, more famous Barry scores is here as well. He had a way with the epic in movie music, and his wildly melodramatic melodies and arrangements hint at the superlative film Dino's remake could have been."

Barry's Underappreciated Spin on Kong

G M. Stathis | cedar city, utah USA | 12/13/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"How odd that it would take a new version of the classic story of "King Kong" to focus more appreciative attention on John Barry's underrated score for the 1976 film incarnation. Barry's music stands out for several reasons. First, he wrote a solid score for a substandard film. Second, Barry's music generally took a new musical spin, quite differeent than that of the great Max Steiner. And third, not unlike James Newton Howard's recent effort, Barry chose to emphasize the female lead character and her relationship with that "goddamned chauvinist pig ape," resulting in one of Barry's best themes. The action cues are typically good, but on this reissue of the original soundtrack are somewhat marred by the addition of sound effects. Barry's choice to score this film was surprising in the 1970s, but his music is an interesting part of the composer's collected works, and well worth a listen aside from the film itself. Nicely produced, and wonderfully packaged by FSM."

Over looked

J. Marshall | Chicago | 12/13/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What a shame that you never hear good things about the sound track of the 76' remake. I was hooked the first time I heard it and the whole sound track is a gem. Very sweeping and it has a majestic quality to it. It's also very pretty (Dwan's theme) and when something is about to happen in some of the Island scenes there is a ominus tune that I like very much. It's kinda wierd but it reminds me of one the background themes that I've heard in the Lone Ranger TV show.



On the first couple of listens I didn't hear the ominus version that I heard in the film. I hate it when they leave one of the tunes out of the soundtrack. The Godfather is guilty of this also. If you remember the scene where the Godfather was shot and there is a collage of scenes depicting the scramble for power and territory. There is a nice piano being played. I like that tune very much but it's not on the soundtrack and that's dissapointing."